Adrift in Psyren
by Madison E. Blackwood
Summary: Badikku Kokai has an average life. Until she receives a red call card to Psyren. Suddenly, she finds herself smack-dab in the middle of the battle for Earth... and she's the wild card.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everybody! So, I hope you enjoyed Three-Way Bridge and Endangering Spock, my first two fanfics. If not, I'm sorry, and if you haven't read them yet, then please go do so!

Alright, so this adventure takes place right in the middle of the manga Psyren. While Ageha, Amamiya, Kyle, Marie, and Fredrica are on their way to rescue Nemesis Q's creator, Badikku Kokai is suddenly pulled into Psyren as a wild card in the mix. The moment she arrives, her Psi-limiter is removed and she meets with Tatsuo and Asaga, right after he's recovered.

Now, before I give away everything, why don't you go ahead and read the first part of it yourself. ^w^

Universe: Psyren - Future Japan

Pairings: Oboro/OC, Tatsuo/Asaga

Rating: T

* * *

The brown-hair and -eyed girl groaned and sat up. A bright light glared in her eyes and she winced, shading her eyes and blinking until her eyes adjusted.

"Hey," someone said. "Are you alright?" She tried to look at the person, but the light made it impossible to see, so she rubbed at her eyelids and tried again.

"Y-yeah," she said. "I think so." The stranger came into focus; he had long black hair trailing down his back and dangling over his toned shoulders, which were bare. His dark eyes focused on her, searching her face to make sure she really was alright. His torso—which was also bare—was covered in small orbs, vein-like bulges connecting each to the ones nearest them. The black cloak he wore didn't hide his handsome features, made more attractive by the Illumnia Cores.

"Are you sure?" he asked gently. "That Tavoo nearly killed you." She blinked. Though she'd remember about the Illumnia Cores, she'd forgotten everything else. Glancing around, she took in the wasteland around her.

_That's right..._ she thought. _We're in Psyren._

Three days earlier, Badikku Kokai strolled down the street, humming. Father was waiting at home with the boys—her younger brothers, Jon and Yutaka—and supper was likely to be on the table. Mother was still gone on in Higashi, of the neighboring Saitama Prefecture; she worked as an emergency room doctor and was often gone to Higashi or Chosei, of the Chiba Prefecture. It was nice having Mother work in the Kanto region, instead of in the Kyoto Prefecture of the Kansai region; Higashi and Chosei were much closer to Miho—the village of the Ibaraki Prefecture where they lived—so Mother could come home much more often.

Taiyo and Jona, Kokai's older half-sisters, didn't live with them anymore, but Taiyo often came to visit her on her off-days, after Kokai was out of school. In fact, Taiyo was supposed to take her out shopping tomorrow, so she was staying the night and had promised to get there shortly after supper. Kokai couldn't wait; her sister was very nice to her and liked to spoil her as only a big sister could. Tomorrow they planned to window-shop at a mall in Tokai, a nearby village only an hour away, then get their hair and nails done at a salon there, and then buy a couple of dresses for the dance at school in a few weeks. Taiyo wanted to do Kokai's hair and make-up for the dance herself, but tomorrow was going to be a girl's day out.

_RING, RING, RING!_ The jingling of a payphone next to her made Kokai jump. She glanced around, but saw no one; the phone was ringing for no reason.

_May as well,_ she thought and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" she said timidly. A flash out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned, then gasped in horror, dropping the phone. "Nemesis Q!"

Indeed, hovering just outside the payphone call box, a cell phone to the place where its ear should be, was the creepy, long-robed phantom that had set all of Japan on edge. Though its beak-like mask-headpiece covered any face it might have had, Kokai felt as though it was scrutinizing her from head to toe, searching even her soul. She was too terrified to run, and could only stare at the phantom.

All at once, Nemesis Q vanished, leaving only a cloud of foggy smoke. Kokai was able to breathe again, but she shook all over. The payphone beeped a standby tone, waiting for her to insert coins or a call card. She carefully replaced the phone to its cradle and then noticed the red call card. Curious, she pulled it out and flipped it over, looking for the owner's name. There was none. She frowned; who left call cards at payphone's? It was too dark for her to make out the symbols on the front of the card, and she tucked it into her pocket to inspect later.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her; it was Father, wondering where she was. With a quick apology, she hurried home.

The next morning, she and Taiyo left for Tokai. The ride was quick; they talked the whole way about what kind of boys they'd see at the mall, which led to Taiyo asking if Kokai had a boyfriend, or even a crush. Kokai denied it, though she couldn't help but think of Yoshina Ageha, the boy one grade below at her school who helped people with their problems for 10,000 yen. He and that girl Sakurako Amamiya seemed to be an item, what with them disappearing for up to several days at a time. And they often vanished at the same time as Hiryuu Asaga, from another school in the area, Kirisaki Kabuto, a womanizing trouble-maker known across several prefectures, and Mochizuki Oboro, the popular idol/actor.

Kokai had, since the media noted Mochizuki's first disappearance, begun keeping tabs on anyone who vanished within the prefecture. She monitored those who returned and noted those who didn't. For some reason, the media hadn't connected Yoshina and Sakurako's departures with those of Hiryuu, Kirisaki, and Mochizuki. But Kokai had. She was keenly interested in anything related to the vanishings, and she felt sure it was connected to Psyren. She kept her eyes and ears open for news about the 500 million yen reward put forward by the widow, Tenjuin Elmore, but only heard what everyone else was hearing: Tenjuin was offering an enormous reward for any information about Psyren or... red call cards.

Suddenly, Kokai realized something. Taiyo was pulling into the mall parking lot, but Kokai hardly noticed; she was too busy mentally slapping herself in the face. _She had a call card!_

All that day, she was distracted by thoughts of Tenjuin and Psyren, and red call cards, one of which seemed to be burning a hole in her jacket pocket. She couldn't wait to be done with the day so she could get home and test it, see if it really was a Psyren call card.

Taiyo noted her fidgets and commented, but Kokai just waved the question aside, saying she was a bit more tired and hyperactive than usual. Taiyo didn't question her, but continued to cast worried glances at her throughout the day.

The ride home was quite and long, and when they arrived, Kokai hugged her sister goodbye, went up to her room, and snuck the window to go make a call.


	2. Chapter 2

The questions were pointless until around the fifty-fifth, when the automated lady's voice began asking whether Kokai was upset with how often her mother was away, or if she ever wanted to get away from the problems she saw around her village. Surprised and confused, Kokai didn't know how to respond, and after a long silence, the woman asked the question she'd been expecting from the start.

_"Do you want to go to Psyren? Dial Yes or No."_

Kokai's finger went immediately to the 1—"Yes"—but hesitated. Could she just leave her family behind? Her parents, her brothers, her sisters? She knew instinctively that if she said yes, she might not ever return; very few people who left (supposedly to Psyren) ever returned.

She pressed the 2—"No."

_"Thank you for your replies. We will contact you with your results,"_ the woman said. Perplexed, Kokai hung up. The call card ejected from the payphone, and she took it, staring at the red card. Jagged lines made up what looked like an eye, and the word 'Psyren' was printed in bold letters.

_What's so special about this thing?_ she wondered, stepping out of the call box. The night was silent as she slowly walked homeward, thoughts tumbling around in her head. _What exactly is Psyren? Why are people disappearing all the time? Who is Nemesis Q? What does the questionnaire have to do with Psyren?_

Suddenly, she noticed a faint ringing, and the call card in her hand vibrated. She jumped and looked at the card, gasping as she watched the eye design shift and slowly start to open. The ringing grew louder, until it hurt her ears, and the eye shot fully open. She stared at it, pressing one hand to her ear in an attempt to block out the sound.

"Ah! Stop, please!" she cried, dropping to her knees. In her peripheral vision, she caught a glimpse of a pointed shoe and the ruffled hem of a long robe. She look up, and saw him again... Nemesis Q.

The ringing grew so loud that she could barely hear herself think and she began pounding her head against the pavement.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded of the phantom. "What did I do? Please, stop the ringing! I... I'll give you back the card! Here; take it! Just... please, _please_! Stop the ringing!" She thrust the card at the phantom; time seemed to slow down as the card left her hand and floated toward Nemesis Q. It touched his robe... and she felt a sudden _RRRIIIPPPP_ in her gut.

Bending over, Kokai coughed and hacked, vomiting up everything she'd had for dinner. The vile fluids splashed to the soft dust of the ground. Provoked by the smell and taste, she heaved again, and then again, and continued until she had nothing left to get rid of. Except her organs, though they seemed to be trying hard to leave her body as well.

Exhausted, she collapsed, managing to avoid the muddy mess she'd made. Her body trembled and she felt feverish. Something wet trickled from her nose, making a trail down her cheek, and she weakly brushed her hand against it. Her hand came back blotched in red.

Seeing blood sent a small bit of adrenaline through her veins, just enough for her to sit up and feel her nose, trying to stop the bleeding. It refused to, and soon her hands and sleeves were thoroughly soaked, to the point of dripping, even.

A large shadow fell over her and she froze. Slowly, she raised her eyes and they met those of a deformed man with four arms. Its head was bulbous and had two sets of large, polished-obsidian black eyes set side-by-side, on end in the lower half of its face. Instead of a mouth, the humanoid creature had a large, sparkling orb. All four of its hands had smaller orbs in the palms, and the rags across its torso revealed another in the center of its chest.

"Gihihihihi!" the creature snarled, lifting its chin just enough for Kokai to make out the gaping mouth in its neck. She would have screamed, but her heart was lodged in her throat. The creature stepped toward her and she scrambled backward; her movement provoked it and it lunged for her, making a horrible keening cry.

_"HE-E-E-LP!"_ Now her vocal chords were working; she screamed and threw up her hands in a pitiful, useless defense.

A sickening _POP_ reached her ears, and she glanced up to see the creature hovering over her, the orb in its chest shattered and the creature itself slowly turning to ash in front of her eyes. It crumbled, and a young man stood there, still holding a gun level with where the creature's orb had been. He lifted the gun and rested it on his shoulder, tilting his head to the side to inspect Kokai, who stared at him in surprise.

He was tall and thin, with chin-length, naturally layered black hair that had the strangest shock of white in the middle of his part. He wore black pants tucked into thick black boots, and a white-trimmed black three-quarter-sleeve jacket/shirt mix that was open enough in the front for Kokai to see an orb in his stomach, with strange vein-like offshoots that appeared to be connecting the orb to his body.

"You..!" she blurted, her eyes widening and her voice squeaking. He took in the look on her face and smiled.

"Nah, I'm not a Tavoo," he said. "I used to be, but thanks to Yoshina, I'm myself again." Kokai stared at him, uncertain what to make of him. He looked entirely human, right down to the calm expression in his pale blue eyes. Could he be a monster in disguise?

Then what he said hit her. Yoshina? As in, Yoshina Ageha?

"Yo, Tatsuo!" someone shouted, making her jump. The young man glanced over his shoulder and his smiled broadened at the arrival of a second young man.

"Hey, Asaga," the first one, Tatsuo, greeted. "I found a Drifter. But it looks like this is her first time; she's got the nosebleed."

"She?" the second young man, Asaga, drew closer and looked at Kokai. She stared, realizing she knew him. He was even taller than Tatsuo, and had extremely broad shoulders topped with a head of strikingly orange hair, contrasted by piercing, yet gentle black eyes. He wore a jacket over a simple gray t-shirt and jeans with black and gray sneakers.

"Y-you're Hiryuu Asaga!" she said softly, her voice cracking. "The Dragon Saga!" He blinked and the corner of his mouth tilted up, though he raised an eyebrow as well.

"You know me?" he asked. She opened her mouth, but her throat refused to make a sound. She closed her mouth, and tried again. Nothing. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, opened her mouth one more time... and fell flat on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

A splitting headache woke her. Kokai blinked lazily and looked around, trying to determine where she was. The room was large, with computers on one wall, a shelf in the opposing corner, and a bed in the next corner, on which she lay. Tatsuo and Asaga sat on a couch nearby, heads together as they whispered. When Kokai shifted, they glanced at her, and Tatsuo stood to check on her.

"How is she?" Asaga asked curiously. Tatsuo touched her forehead and then checked her pulse. She was about to inquire as to their location when he turned back to Asaga.

"She's fine," he said, sitting down next to his friend. "She's still asleep, but the fever broke finally." Kokai frowned inwardly, wondering why he hadn't seen that she was awake, and then realized her eyes weren't open. But, if her eyes weren't open, how could she see?

"Brought another of yer friends home, stray cat?" a rough voice asked. Kokai's vision, however it worked, shifted to the door, where a humanoid man stood. He had strange, goggle-like eyes and a large, pointed chin, reminiscent of the beard of a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt.

"Kusakabe-san," Tatsuo greeted, standing and bowing. "We found her near the tower this morning. She's a new Drifter." The creature looked over her, then grunted and turned to leave.

"Get her better and gone," he called over his shoulder. "We've got things to do..." When he was gone, Tatsuo sat and continued talking to Asaga. Kokai turned her attention to her unusual 'vision.' She could see as if her eyes were open, albeit a lot clearer and sharper, but they were closed. She moved her vision toward Asaga and Tatsuo and suddenly noticed they had visible auras. They were faint, but just noticeable. Tatsuo's was a soft shade of green, pale and beautiful. Asaga's was a subtle, burnt shade of orange, like bronze-tinged gold. Both flared slightly as they whispered, flickering and twitching like fire in slow motion.

Watching the fascinating auras, Kokai grew drowsy and the low murmur of their voices lulled her to sleep.

"Hey, wake up." Someone poked her shoulder. "Miss, you need to wake up." Kokai groaned and buried her face deeper in the pillow.

"Five more minutes, Dad," she muttered. "Just five... I won't be late for school..." The person shook her shoulder, but she just shrugged them off.

"...This is taking too long," someone else said. "We need to wake her up now." People moved around, then someone picked her up. If they'd picked her up regularly, she wouldn't have noticed, but it was like a huge hand clamping around her middle and lifting her off the bed. That jolted her awake and her eyes flew open as she gasped. Everything instantly flooded back when she glanced around, and she saw Asaga pointing at her, a bit of his aura forming into what looked like a dragon's tail, the end of which was clamped around her waist, pinning her arms.

"PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed, frantically struggling to get loose. Asaga blinked in surprise and dropped her. She tumbled off the bed and landed in a rather undignified heap on the floor. Her skirt fell up high on her thighs and she instantly jerked it back down, flushing in embarrassment.

"W-what did you do...?" Asaga asked, staring at her. She glared at him, perplexed.

"What are you talking about?" she spat. "I didn't do anything!"

"Are you alright, Asaga-nii?" Tatsuo asked. Asaga glanced at him, blinking.

"I... I'm fine... I think. She did something to me, to my mind," he said. "She has to be a Trance-type." Kokai stared at him in confusion.

"A... what?" she stammered. Tatsuo considered her, then nodded.

"It would explain why she awakened so quickly," he said thoughtfully. She turned her agitated gaze to him.

"What are you talking about? Please tell me," she pleaded. "Where am I? What's happening?" Tatsuo sighed.

"It's a LONG story," he said, moving to sit on the bed. "The short version is this: we're in Japan still, but we're in the future. Something about the air now removes the limiter that most everyone has from birth, and that allows us to use more of our brains, an ability called Psi. There are three types of Psi; Trance, Rise, and Burst. Rise is the manipulation of one's senses and has two major categories: Sense-type and Strength-type. There is also Healing-type, but that could be a sub-category of Strength-type. Burst is the manipulation of the world around one's self. This includes Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, things like that."

"But Trance is the one you need to know about," Asaga took up. "It's all about influencing other people's minds. Trance users can read people's minds, 'dive' into their memories, create illusions, etc. But... whatever you did, it wasn't like anything I've felt before..."

"What do you mean?" Kokai asked worriedly. Was she abnormal? Tatsuo gave his friend a curious look, and Asaga shook his head.

"It was like..." He hesitated, then continued slowly. "...Like I was being controlled." Tatsuo stood abruptly, staring at his friend in amazement.

"You mean...?"

"I mean," Asaga elaborated, "whatever it looks like I did... That wasn't me. It... It was her." Kokai drew her knees up defensively as the pair looked at her.

"A-are you suggesting... that I c-can... c-control minds?" she stammered. He nodded solemnly. It was too much for Kokai; she pushed to her feet and ran.

The outside world was a wasteland. Not a scrap of green was anywhere to be seen, and every single building except the towers was in ruins. A ragged bit of paper floated by, and Kokai reached out for it, but the leaflet disintegrated the moment she touched it. Sighing, she wandered the wasteland, keeping an eye out for other monsters, other Tavoo. She reached a cliff and paused, looking down at the dusty ground below. She looked out at the horizon, emptiness in her gut. This was Japan? Her homeland... had become this? It couldn't be true, could it?

"Gihihihihi!" The newly-familiar gurgling growl sent shivers of fear up Kokai's spine, and she whirled, searching for the source of the sound. A few hundred feet away, a giant, ugly moth-like creature with three giant orbs in its head and six long, clawed legs hovered, looking around as though searching for something. Kokai froze, hoping it hadn't seen her, but that hope drained as it turned toward her and screeched gleefully.

"NO!" she screamed fearfully, raising her hand. But what could make the Tavoo stop?

The creature rushed at her, but at the same time, she felt a light tug on her mind and a thin wire of gold-yellow light tipped with a three-pronged point shot out of her palm. The glowing wire slammed into the monster's head, the tri-tip penetrating the largest orb.

Suddenly, Kokai could see nothing but foggy darkness. She moved through the darkness, deeper and deeper, trying to find her way out of the darkness, and hoping she wasn't dead yet. In the distance, a tiny light appeared. She hurried for it and abruptly found herself in the midst of memories that were not her own. Fragments and fleeting images of people and places flashed past her. So jumbled were they that she couldn't make sense of any of it. It was gibberish, all of it, except one single thought, one idea, a command: Kill humans.

Kokai shivered and touched the memory of a tall man with long white hair and a mask covering the top half of his face. He had an orb in his chest, over his heart. In a way, he was like Tatsuo, fully human despite the strange orb found in all these monsters. The man asked the Tavoo questions, but the Tavoo couldn't answer them, and the man grew angry, then ordered the Tavoo to go out and kill any humans it came across. The anger and hatred in his voice made her shiver and she wished he had never given that order.

All at once, the memory changed. The man was angry, yes, but instead of ordering the Tavoo to go and kill humans, he simply sent the Tavoo away.

Kokai felt a _snap_ and opened her eyes with a gasp. The Tavoo was still there, but it simply watched her. It didn't attack. Slowly, cautiously, she reached out. The creature eyed her warily but didn't move.

"Miss!" She jerked around to see Tatsuo raise his gun, aiming for the creature.

"Wait!" she cried, raising her hands. Behind her, the Tavoo hissed and raced away. Asaga ran up and watched the fleeing creature in surprise. Kokai turned to watch as well.

"I've never seen a Tavoo run away before," Asaga said, frowning. "What did you do to it, girl?"

"I didn't..." Kokai began, and then stopped, blinking. "I think... I think I altered its memories."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry it's been so long, everyone! I've been busy with "I'd Come For You" and school... This part is a bit short, but I hope you enjoy the surprise at the end!

* * *

Tatsuo and Asaga sat across from Kokai on the couch while she sat on a chair. She fingered the hem of her dusty skirt, keeping her eyes down, though the men were waiting for her to explain. Their eyes were on her; she could feel their gazes impatiently trying to pierce her silence.

Finally, Tatsuo cleared his throat.

"So, Miss, what exactly h-"

"Kokai," she interrupted.

"Sorry?"

"Kokai. My name is Badikku Kokai," she said, glancing up.

"Light Sea?" Asaga noted. "Your parents were creative." Kokai caught the hint of sarcasm in his voice and glared.

"You got a problem with my name, Dragon?" she said, softly, but aggressively. He snorted, though a corner of his lips tilted upward.

"May I call you Kokai-san?" Tatsuo asked kindly, ignoring his friend. She glanced at him and nodded hesitantly.

"If I can call you Ta-san," she said shyly. He smiled broadly and nodded. Asaga shifted and crossed his arms.

"So what happened?" he asked. "You said you altered its memories?" She hesitated and then gestured affirmatively.

"Y-yes," she said uneasily. "It... It attacked me and I threw up my hands in defense. All of the sudden, I was in a black place, and there was light in the distance. I went toward the light and found myself among its memories. One of them was of a guy with long white hair and a mask over the top of his face."

"Sounds like Dholaki," Asaga muttered.

"Who?"

"One of the W.I.S.E.," he answered. "They're the ones who made Japan like that." He waved his hand at the window. "Continue." She swallowed and took up her explanation.

"I, um, I touched the memory and saw him order the... the Tavoo to kill humans. I wished he had never given that order, and the memory changed. Instead of ordering the creature to kill humans, he just sent it away." Tatsuo and Asaga exchanged glances.

"Certainly sounds like she altered its memories," Asaga admitted. "But as far as I know, no Trance-type has ever been that powerful, not even Amamiya." Kokai blinked in surprise.

"Amamiya? You mean Sakurako Amamiya?" she asked, recovering quickly. "She's here, isn't she?" Asaga frowned.

"Last I heard, they were returning to present day, where you just came from," he said. "But they might be back."

"With Ageha Yoshina and Kabuto Kirisaki? They returned about a week ago," Kokai said, "but you and Oboro never showed. It caused quite a scandal, when he didn't return, but the police couldn't get anything out of Ageha or Sakurako, and everyone freaked out when they and Kabuto disappeared again." She paused and took a breath, shifting nervously. "Is... Is this really where you all come whenever you disappear?"

"This is Psyren," Asaga nodded. "It's something of a game to Nemesis Q; he brings us here, makes us battle Tavoo to get to the destination, and then sends us home. We think he's trying to figure out who can help him change the future so that this doesn't happen."

"Then... This really is the future of Japan..." Kokai said, distressed. How on earth could her beloved home have become this wasteland?

"I'm really no good at this," Asaga muttered, facing off with Kokai. "What you need is training from Amamiya... She's a Trance; I'm a Burst."

"So am I, Hiryuu-nii," Tatsuo laughed. "But you're better with Trance than I'll ever be." Kokai shifted nervously.

"C-could you please not say things like that?" she called over anxiously. "I'm nervous enough as it is." She swallowed at the lump in her throat and looked out over the landscape. The trio stood just outside the building Tatsuo and the ex-Tavoo Kusakabe called home. For the past few hours, Kokai had been trying to replicate everything she'd done with the moth-y Tavoo, except actually changing memories. So far, she'd made Asaga do jumping jacks and forced him to use his dragon-tail Burst. Other than that, she'd had no progress.

"Ok, try it again," he shouted, bracing. She took a breath and stretched out her hand. The little white three-pronged jack appeared, as it had many times, and shot toward Asaga. It touched his forehead and dissipated. Kokai grimaced and tried again. This time the jack connected successfully and she found herself in a small dark space surrounded by quickly flashing images. She looked around, trying to take in all the pictures flickering around her, but only registering snippets here and there.

Asaga as a child, crying and shouting at a little boy that looked like Ageha. Asaga falling asleep in a woman's arms—his mother's. Asaga and Tatsuo playing as children.

Then there were more recent memories: Asaga in Psyren for the first time. Asaga training with a tall punk woman with spiked black hair—someone named Matsuri Yagumo. Asaga meeting Oboro and Kabuto for the first time. Asaga and Tatsuo being reunited. Asaga getting found by Tatsuo and Kusakabe.

Asaga kissing Tatsuo.

Startled, Kokai snapped back to herself. What the hell had she just seen?


End file.
